


of cool nights and warm bodies

by Space_Samurai



Category: One Piece
Genre: Cunnilingus, F/M, Fluff, Mild Sexual Content, POV Female Character, Post-Wano Arc (One Piece), Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:54:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29055468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Samurai/pseuds/Space_Samurai
Summary: With Wano at peace, Hiyori allows herself to want certain things.And certain people.
Relationships: Kozuki Hiyori/Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 24
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I regret nothing lol don't @me

Life as Komurasaki had deprived her of many things. Justice for her family and country being just one of them. 

She had been terribly lonely before Toko became her kamuro -and she had felt guilty for that loneliness, such a selfish thing, seeing that she got a plenty of food and a roof over her head while most people were exiled to the outskirts to live in hunger and poverty.

Those days are gone. There’s peace in Wano: Kaido and his men were defeated, Orochi’s head and the rest of him were rotting in unmarked graves; the pirates were helping to rebuild the country, lending a hand to the busy carpenters while their comrades healed from the battle; the walls of the cities were brought down and the bricks were being used to build houses. The issue of the borders was to be resolved when the pirates left, as not to invite the foreign ‘marines’ to come and get them.

It’s been two weeks since the victory: the celebrations are over, the people work day and night and her own brother is too busy to spend time with her. She doesn’t resent him for it, or any of her father’s men. Even as the silence of the house threatens to deafen her. And while she appreciates Toko, Hiyori lacked any sort of meaningful relationship with people her age. The pleasure house had been loud and lively, for better or worse, and there was plenty of conversation there, meaningless as it had been. 

Well, maybe there _was_ someone…now that she thought about it.

Before she could start missing the few nights that she’d spent with Denjiro in silent companionship, another honorable man took his place. Though in all honesty, the nights she spent with the green-haired swordsman were a bit different from the ones she spent with her childhood protector. 

Directionless and prone to napping rather than working, he was spared from aiding his friends. As a result, his days –and nights- were free for him to do as he pleased. Hiyori didn’t dare to hope, but she liked to think that he enjoyed her company. If didn’t, then she couldn't possibly guess why he spent all his time nearby, either training with her father's sword in the courtyard while she played the shamisen, or sleeping by her side while she read under a tree. He even indulged her when she asked for tales from beyond Wano, despite the fact that he wasn’t a very talkative man.

Incapable of following simple directions as he was, Hiyori didn't feel right releasing into the night on his own and thus insisted he stayed. He was easy enough to convince, and even easier to be talked into sharing a futon with her. Sometimes Toko would join them, when the poor girl was finally in need of rest after a day helping the doctor who searched for a cure to her condition, but for the most, they were alone.

Hiyori wasn't naive, spending half of her life in a pleasure house had seen to that. Zorojuro was only a man, despite the stories she kept hearing about the battle. And men wanted things.

She knew he wasn't indifferent to her or her body. Sometimes she could feel his eyes on her as she brushed her hair before laying down for the night, or the way he tensed momentarily as she snuggled against him under the sheets, before easing up and relaxing. One time she woke up with him behind her, breath warm on the back of her neck, arms around her middle and a most interesting heat in her belly.

She knew what was expected of her. And despite what her reputation might suggest after all those years as an oiran, she remained untouched. It would've been selfish of her to pursue an affair while in such a delicate situation, not to mention risky. And that was without considering what was _proper_ for a woman of her position. She was well aware that the swordsman would leave eventually, to pursue his dreams and ambitions along with his crew. She was also aware that, in time, her brother would find a husband for her. 

In the meanwhile, however…

She might have spent far too much time thinking about it. Too many baths spent with her hands twitching by her sides and her eyes stuck to the ceiling as she tried her best not to think of him. And the things she’d do to him if he were present right there. It had been an impossible task and she had ended up clipping her nails short, deciding that what her brother didn’t know couldn’t possibly hurt him. 

The country was finally at peace. The last thing anyone should be concerning themselves with was who she was sharing her bed with, really.

Her resolve might have come too late, she’d realize later.

It was a night like any other. They had dinner -done by the cook from Zorojuro's crew, who always sent her meals through an errand boy and they were easily the best she food she ever tasted, and the swordsman seemed to like them too, despite how much he rolled his eyes and scoffed at the bright-eyed boy who delivered them. 

“Our navigator said we’ll be ready to sail in a week.” He mentions quietly as they slurp the soba noodles. 

Hiyori doesn’t flinch. She knew it was coming, and yet that didn’t make hearing it any nicer. She met his gaze and found him watching her carefully with his one eye. She couldn’t think of anything to say. He cleared his throat.

“Chopper still hasn’t found a cure for the effects of the Smile, so that might extend our stay a little more…”

But progress was being made, Hiyori knew. Toko told her everything about it between delighted giggles. 

She set down her bowl. “I know that Zorojuro will leave eventually.” She cut him, not a hint of reproach in her voice.

She didn’t miss the way he tensed. “I have a duty to my captain and his dream. And my own to follow.” 

“I know.” She said once more and this time it was painless. Feeling bold, she rose from her spot and went across the table to sit by his side. “I have my own duty to fulfill.” 

The corner of his lips twitched, but it wasn’t a smile. “Momo seems to think you’re still a little girl. So I wouldn’t worry about that for a while.” 

She thought of what it’d be like to have him as a husband. Perhaps it’d be like her own parents' marriage, full of thrilling adventures before settling down in the quietness of a castle. Though a man like her father never sat still and Zorojuro struck her as the same. 

“My brother might find me a husband some day.” That was just a reality. “But at the moment, I’m promised to no one.” She let Komurasaki shine through, placing a hand on his knee and meeting his gaze steadily.

Something dangerous flashed in his eye. “If this is because of what I said…” 

She tightened her grip and felt him tense. “It is not.” She said firmly. “It’d be selfish of me to ask Zorojuro to stay-”

“It’s Zoro.”

“Which is why I’d like to make the best of the time we have left.” She finished, but the smile she gave him was more shy than seductive. Her meaning had gotten through, since his face grew soft. But he didn’t move to touch her. “ _Zoro_.”

She couldn’t just sit on his lap and smash their faces together. Despite their current predicament and her suggestion, Hiyori didn’t want to seem lewd. To think that she had slept on top of him after just a day of knowing him. She knew everything there was to know about seduction, but the thought of treating him like any other man that came to the pleasure house turned her stomach.

She thought of starting small, leaning in for a kiss and let things run its course, but her kimono had other ideas. Her knee slipped on the silky fabric and she stumbled forward, making her hand land on his thigh in search for balance and making it seem as if she had just thrown herself at him. So much for subtlety.

Much to her surprise, he fell on his back and a hand went to hold her hip, keeping her steady on top of him. She could feel the muscles of his stomach tensing beneath her. His body seemed to irradiate heat. It was a cool night, but she felt overly warm underneath the many layers of her kimono. 

Hiyori swallowed thickly. _To hell with it,_ she was a grown woman.

She kissed him and prayed he couldn’t tell she’d never done it before. It took him a second to respond, as if despite everything he didn’t think she’d actually go through with it, but when he did, he was as eager as she. Hiyori tasted the sake they had been sharing on his lips. The hand on her hip pushed her closer to him and then he rolled them over and it was her on her back, with him kneeling between legs. Mindful of their difference in size, he didn't throw all of his weight on top of her, but rather leaned on his elbows and pressed their foreheads together. 

His free hand made its way to the end of her kimono and felt the fabric between his fingers, a silent question made. And she would’ve helped him remove it, but then she remembered they were in the middle of the tea-room. 

“Wait!” She said abruptly, making him jump back. “We… We should go upstairs. Anyone could walk in.” The idea of Toko stumbling upon them engaging in less than innocent activities was mortifying. 

“Someone already has and you didn’t care then.” She actually glared at him, before realizing he was teasing her.

When she stood, Hiyori realized that her hairdo hadn’t survived. Some pins laid on the floor and one of her buns was undone. She undid the other and ran her fingers through her hair, hoping it didn’t become a tangled mess.

Thankfully, she didn’t lose her nerve as they went to her room. She was the first one to go in and when she turned around, he had taken off his green haori and left it on the floor. 

_Oh._

It was hardly the first time she’d seen his bare chest, but this was a different context and thus the feeling the sight evoked was _als_ o different. Her appreciation was cut short by him, who crossed the room in two steps and was back at kissing her. 

They didn’t fall into the futon immediately, but allowed each other’s hands to run through the other’s body. Her fingers lingered briefly over the thick and old scar tissue. He had told her of that wound, left by the man he hoped to best one day. She traced the newest one, which run from his left shoulder to his chest, deep and fresh, Kaido had been the one who left it there. He trembled when she did.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“I’m just not used to it.”

“It needs time to fully heal,” Hiyori pointed out quietly, running her fingers over it. 

He shook his head. “No, I just need to get stronger.”

She had been subjected to plenty of rants about his supposed weakness and fearing one coming, she was quick to bring their lips together and shut him up. 

Standing where they were, anyone could get an eyeful of them if they looked at the right window. Her father’s men came to mind and she wondered what they'd think of this situation. The Nine Red didn't even want her walking the streets alone, in fear of the deserters that now lived amongst them. Though she suspected that in no time their fear of those would turn into fear for any man who might even breathe in her direction. She wouldn’t blame them right now, since Zoro was doing a bit more than just breathing.

He tried to untie her obi. His hands were skilled but impatient. A laugh caught at her throat as she aided him and let the colorful sash fall to the floor, where it joined his haori. While she was at it, she took off the outer layer of her kimono and the pink shift that went beneath it.

Had she looked at him with the same expression? Much like her, this wasn’t the first time he saw her in nothing but her nagajuban, but it felt more intimate. Even the room felt different, smaller, as if there wasn’t a single piece of furniture surrounding them and it was just the two of them standing there.

She sat on the futon and stared at him expectantly. A nervous giggle threatened to escape her lips as he took off the yukata and stood in white wrappings she was unfamiliar with. Something pulsed between her legs as she observed him. Every bit of him was muscular, covered by scars and tanned by the sun. Cautiously, reminding her of an oversized cat, he got on his knees and crawled on top of her.

His touch didn’t stray beneath her remaining piece of clothing, nor did he grope her, however he did squeeze her thighs over the fabric, his fingers digging on her as sighed when he brought his mouth to neck and collarbone. She stared at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes, caressing his hair. It occurred to her where else he could put his mouth and the thought made her close her legs tighter around him, which led her to notice that she wasn’t the only one affected by their situation.

He let out a moan and all she could think of was of how much she wanted to hear that sound again.

Her hands shook a little when she began to untie the laces of her nagajuban, excited as she was. But he caught one of her wrists and stopped her before she could finish, making her look up, puzzled.

“You don’t have to.” Her brows furrowed. “I mean– You don't have to take it off.” He said awkwardly.

Her confusion only grew. “You don’t want to see me naked?”

She expected him to answer with an impatient snort _‘of course I want to’_ , but his face was serious.

“Just if _you_ want me to.” He shrugged a bit, as much as he could in his position. “You were shaking.” His voice was quiet and the way he looked at her was oddly gentle. “We– we don't have to do anything you don't want to. Just sleeping it's fine.” 

Finding her voice through the fondness that bloomed in her chest, she answered, “I want more than sleeping.”

He brushed her hair off her face. “You’re sure?” 

Instead of answering, she sat up and undid the laces, adding the garment to the growing pile of clothes. 

Goosebumps rose on her skin and she kept herself from wrapping her arms around her chest. Zoro stared with naked intent.

“When was the last time you went outside?” He asked, watching her milky skin contrasting against his.

She huffed and hugged him, pressing her chest against him. She enjoyed the little sound he made at the contact. “I get out plenty,” that might have been a lie. “I just don’t do it naked, unlike Zorojuro.”

He pulled her hair playfully and kissed her again, wrapping an arm around her waist. “It’s Zoro,” he reminded her.

She had been right about his mouth, she found out on her back minutes later, as his hands held her knees apart and his head worked between her legs. It made sense that wealthy women paid for this at the pleasure house, though she couldn’t imagine letting a stranger do this. Hiyori did her best to keep the noises down, even as one of his callous hands found her chest and the other went to assist his tongue. She held back until she couldn’t, when sweat pooled on her back and her body tensed before she found release. 

She twitched as she rode the last waves of pleasure, gasping and twitching under his ministrations. 

He got up, wiping his lips with the back of his hand, looking as if he belonged into a filthy illustration -meant to be passed around between giggles and knowing smiles. 

“Are you tired?” 

She shook her head, eyes on his white wrappings. She licked her lips, no longer caring what she seemed, blushing and naked underneath him. Her hair sticking to her face because of the sweat. He didn’t break eye contact as he got rid of them. 

As she had expected, he was gentle. A warrior like him was in full control of his body, and his touch never grew too harsh or rough. It was so unlike what anyone would think of him at first glance. Hiyori liked the thought that she was one of the few who knew this other side of him. And one of the fewer who knew what he looked like when he panted, flushing red and shoulders tense as he thrusted into her. 

It was more intimate than she could’ve imagined it to be. At the end she clung to him desperately, arms wrapped around his shoulders and face hiding on the crook of his neck, leaving marks like the ones he had left in the rest of her body.

Sleep came easily that night. 


	2. bonus scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to cut the last scene, alter it a bit and make it a bonus chapter because I didn't feel like it fit with the rest of the story. It was meant to be a little whimsical and it came out too serious.

Hiyori woke up alone and overheated, naked under the sheets and a familiar green haori. She yawned before rising, ready to see Zoro working out in the courtyard through the window. Much to her surprise, he wasn’t there. The thought that last night might have tired him out made her giggle. He was probably downstairs drinking tea. Or sake, since he did start awfully early. 

She was in dire need of a bath, she noticed quickly. And other than sticky, she felt a bit sore and certain that faint bruises were starting to show up in her pale skin. She couldn’t possibly go to a public bathhouse in this state. She’d need to bring water from the well and warm it to fill the ofuro. Maybe Zoro would like to join her. With that in mind, she put on her nagajuban from the day before and wrapped his haori around herself. 

She heard people talking in low voices as she went down. She closed the haori as much as she could without a sash and made sure that her hair covered her neck before walking into the kitchen. But the people sitting at the table weren’t those she expected to see. 

Kiku was there, with a tight expression in her pretty face. Toko was sitting across her, eyes wide and giggles uncontrolled. There was a steaming teapot on the table and Zoro was nowhere to be found.

“Good morning,” she said warily. “Is everything alright?” 

“Hiyori-sama,” Kiku smiled tensely. “Momonosuke-sama sent me to watch over you.”

“Did something happen?” Her eyes moved to Toko, who only returned her nervous gaze. 

They couldn’t possibly know, couldn’t they? Even if he had been seen leaving her home, they wouldn’t have jumped to that conclusion -even if they questioned a pirate’s honor, they wouldn’t question hers. And Zoro wouldn’t have boasted about it, she refused to entertain the notion.

Kiku straightened her back. “There’s been an… unexpected development.” Toko laughed.

“What happened?”

The samurai cleared her throat. “Well, as you might now, plenty of men have approached Momonosuke-sama to ask for your hand and he planned to leave it up to you- though he did reject all of them.” If she hadn’t been so anxious, Hiyori might have felt a surge of warmth for her brother. “But today at dawn Zorojuro was the one who showed up!”

Her heart jumped to her throat.

“And what happened?” 

“He threatened him.”

“He  _ what _ ?”

“I was a bit too far to hear it properly, but apparently he warned him against giving your hand to some stranger. Momonosuke-sama would've never done that– but I guess he didn't like that a pirate was threatening him, so he told him that, as your older brother, that was  _ his _ call to make.”

A headache began to form behind Hiyori's eyes.

“And then?”

“Somehow it escalated in him asking for your hand.” Hiyori gasped. “And when Momonosuke-sama told him no, he said he'd fight all of us to prove his worth.”

“And did he?” 

“He was fighting Kin-san when I left. Kawmatsu and I went down first.” Kiku shook her head. “I would’ve never seen it coming from Zorojuro.”

“Me neither,” she said numbly.

She was torn between being thrilled or terrified. Zoro wouldn't kill any of them… And they wouldn't kill him either. Right? 

Duels ended at first blood, right?

_ Right? _

She felt like taking a swig of that sake of his. 

Toko laughed. “Nee-san is getting married!”

“Toko!” Kiku chided, but Hiyori didn't mind. The older woman tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Don't worry, even if he manages to defeat everyone, Momonosuke-sama won't let him get anywhere near you.”

If she had been a different woman, Hiyori might have told her that he'd been closer than anyone had ever been before just hours ago, but being who she was, she remained silent, trying to process what she had been told. 

Toko pushed a cup of tea in her hands and the warm infusion helped to ease some of her fears.

“Well,” she said in a voice that was all Komurasaki, once she'd gotten herself under control. “He  _ did _ return our national treasure and he carries my father's sword.”

“That’s no reason for you to accept, Hiyori-sama!” 

She shrugged. “He's also strong and cut down Kaido when no one else could… He even saved Toko and I when he knew nothing about us.” She feigned a demure smile behind the cup. “A woman could do worse for a husband.”

**Author's Note:**

> The mild smut that was promised. I'm still pretty new to writing this kind of content, so please don't roast my ass too hard. 
> 
> If something didn't sound quite right it's probably because I'm not a native speaker, sorry there. 
> 
> Please let me know what you guys think! Feedback keeps me alive :) 
> 
> Also, should I change the rating to explict? I wasn't sure.


End file.
